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About Robbie

Update August 2017

We got good news, bad news, and horrible news today. The good news is that there isn’t new cancer growth or new tumors. The bad news is the current cancer is still alive and doesn’t show any signs of dying. The horrible news is that his Dr feels it is unlikely that he will go into remission again. He can have chemo to try to keep it stable, but the drugs won’t work forever. Robbie has damaged bone marrow that impacts the type of treatment he can receive.

The current plan is to have 4 more rounds of heavy chemo over the next 4 months and then determine if it is possible to do lung surgery. We will also need to decide at some point, after a few months, if we should continue treatment in Houston or move home for treatment. It will all depend on how treatment progresses.

We will also start looking into doing things on his bucket list. One thing he would like to do is visit the Sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica. If in the future he is able to take a break from chemo, we will look into this.

—————————————————————————————————————————-His Story from the Beginning of his Cancer Diagnosis: In July 2015 Robbie started having minor leg pain. A few weeks passed, pain was still present, so he went to a doctor at an Urgent Care center to have an x-ray. After a series of tests (and a few doctors later) it was confirmed that he has rare bone cancer located in his right tibia called osteosarcoma.

His treatment started in the fall of 2015 in Oklahoma City and directed by MD Anderson. He had chemo locally (Oklahoma City) September 2015-December 2015. His surgery was performed at MD Anderson in December 2015. He has completed 4 rounds of chemo and limb sparing surgery on his leg. They replaced his knee and part of his tibia with titanium. They removed the tumor from his leg and it showed good response to chemo treatments with 98% necrosis or tumor death. This cancer is very aggressive, so even with good response, he has to continue with chemo treatments.

Each round of chemo involved a week in the hospital with chemo around the clock and then two weeks at home. His chemo got delayed multiple times due to low blood counts.

January 2016
We moved his treatment to Houston due to complications he was having, so they could monitor him more closely. He ihad complications with low blood counts and they were concerned about his bone marrow function. For now his chemo will be done at MD Anderson instead of Oklahoma City, so they can monitor him more closely. He is completing round 5 of chemo. They aren’t sure how many more rounds of chemo he will have. It will all depend on how much he can tolerate safely.

Update: 6/28/16
Robbie finished treatment at MD Anderson and we moved back to Oklahoma 6/29/16. He still has complications with his leg and will need to continue PT. He also may need another leg surgery in the future. He will go to MD Anderson at least every three months to check for cancer and to check progress on his leg.Update; 8/16/16
Robbie’s 3 month scans at MD Anderson were clear of cancer. He also went to Dr. Lin to have his leg checked. His leg continues to have complications with bending and he isn’t able to straighten his leg. He may need surgery in the future. For now, he will continue PT three times a week in Oklahoma. His next round of appointments at MD Anderson are in November. H
He also recently got hearing aids. He suffered a significant hearing loss due to the chemo treatments.

Update: 3/25/17 Robbie’s 9 month scans were free of cancer! He continues to work part time in computer programming from home while he recovers from cancer. His leg is a concern, since it continues to be bent making walking difficult and exhausting.

Update: May 2017
Robbie has started a “Sloth Project” for kids with cancer. If you want to know more information, visit this website. http://slothscurecancer.weebly.com/June 2017
Robbie’s cancer is back and has spread to his lungs. He is receiving treatment at MD Anderson in Houston.